Climate change is a menace not just to the environment but also to Indian farmers. The agricultural sector needs a revamp to make it environment-friendly
For a country which is often high on technology, controversies and politics, it was heartening to see a barrage of gratitude to Indian farmers on Twitter on World Food Day. On October 16, ThankYouKisan, a hashtag initiated by IFFCO, witnessed thousands of users showering praise on India's silent millions who make sterling efforts to feed us. Struggling with vagaries of nature and interplay of social and economic plights, these silent millions work day and night to keep our fields glowing with grains.
In a fitting tribute to farmers, Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh, in a message, acknowledged their contribution. “It is because of their hard work and dedication that the country today is not only self-sufficient in food grains but is a major agricultural commodities exporter and a contributor to the world's nutritional needs.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a rise in global temperature of 1.1-6.4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Estimates show that each one degree rise in temperature will cause grain yields to decline by five per cent, posing a serious threat to food security. Therefore, it is important that we adapt our agricultural practices accordingly, including the prudent use of pesticides and chemicals, as these are source of greenhouse emissions, the Minister said.
As if echoing India's sentiments, as well as reiterating the global consensus on addressing the menace of climate change, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, said, while presenting The State of Food and Agriculture 2016 report a day later, “What climate change does is to bring back uncertainties from the time we were all hunter gatherers. We cannot assure any more that we will have the harvest we have planted.” He added, “There is no doubt that climate change affects food security”. José also highlighted the need for reduction in greenhouse emissions as critical for hunger and poverty reduction.
The report points out that without action, agriculture will continue to be a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. But by adopting climate-smart practices and increasing the capacity of soils and forests to sequester carbon, emissions can be reduced while stepping up food production to feed the world's growing population. The report also provides evidence that adoption of climate-smart practices, such as the use of nitrogen-efficient and heat-tolerant crop varieties, zero-tillage and integrated soil fertility management would boost productivity and farmers' incomes. The widespread adoption of nitrogen-efficient practices alone would reduce the number of people at risk of undernourishment by more than 100 million, the report estimates.
The Government of India's programme, the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), addresses these concerns by its focus on ‘Water use efficiency’; ‘Nutrient Management'; and ‘livelihood diversification', through the adoption of sustainable development pathway by progressively shifting to environment-friendly technologies, adoption of energy efficient equipment, conservation of natural resources, and integrated farming, among others.
Besides, the NMSA aims at promoting location-specific improved agronomic practices through soil health management, enhanced water use efficiency, judicious use of chemicals, crop diversification, progressive adoption of crop-livestock farming systems and integrated approaches like crop-sericulture, agro-forestry, fish farming, etc.
The report stresses that more climate finance is needed to fund developing countries' actions on climate change. International public finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation is growing and, while still relatively small, can act as a catalyst to leverage larger flows of public and private investments. More climate finance needs to flow to sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry to fund the large-scale transformation and the development of climate-smart food production systems. Certainly, there is a need to make our farmers climate smart.
(The writer is a strategic communications professional)